In early January of this year, I attended the departure of a group of young men who were leaving their homes in Micronesia on the island of Kosrae, to embark upon a new life half way around the world. Three months later, I had the chance to catch up with some of these young men and learn about their experience in the time since I had last seen them near the Fort Benning army base in Georgia.
What does it mean to trade life on a slow paced tropical island for the tight regiment of military life?
How are the young men coping with separation, for the first time, from their family, friends and community?
What adventures and mis-adventures have they had?
What has their process of cultural immersion been like?
In addition to the young recruits whom I had previously met in Kosrae, I also made the acquaintance of two young men from the outer island of Pohnpei called Kapingamarangi, who are also near the completion of basic training on the military base Fort Benning. Following basic trainning, these young islanders will be split up and sent to difference military bases across the country to wait their deployment orders. I am in the process of seeking funding so that I can complete a film project (working title "Island Soldier"), that will tell the story of these Micronesian citizens, who are serving in the ranks of the United States military.
Quintin Amida (left) and Janick Saick (right)
George R. George (left) and Bryan Williams (right)
Seymour Seymour
Below are a few images of young Pacific Islanders of Micronesian and Samoan heritage, who are growing up on military bases in Colorado, Seattle or Virginia. With all the trappings of US citizenship, culture and identity, these young people may only know of the islands their families hailed from collected stories, fading pictures and shaky home movies.
With the help of Tim Portlock, an artists and Professor at Hunter College, I'm looking back at the accumulated archive of images that I made in Micronesia from January-August 2011. From amid all the chaff of blurry frames, boring compositions and inexplicable exposures, we are trying to seek missed moments for the Blurb book that I am fashioning. Below is one such overlooked image, that upon a second viewing, I felt had something interesting about it. Maybe the blue of the wood smoke or the tilt of the woman's head, toward what we know not.
